Normal
by NemKess
Summary: {Duklyon} warnings: shonen ai(KentaroTakeshi), angst. Sukiyabashi offers support when Kentaro learns upsetting news.


Title: Normal  
Author/pseudonym: NemKess  
Fandom: CLAMP School Defenders Duklyon  
Pairing: Kentaro/Takeshi  
Rating: PG-13  
Status: one-shot, complete  
E-mail address for feedback::

Disclaimers: All characters belong to CLAMP, I'm just borrowing them.

Summary: Sukiyabashi offers silent support for Kentaro when he gets some upsetting news.  
Warnings: Shonen ai. angst

* * *

When his friend showed up at the door looking only slightly better than death warmed over instead of his usual happy-go-lucky self, Sukiyabashi didn't have to ask questions. He and his wife, Eri, had already heard the news. They'd been expecting this visit.  
  
After all, how else could one expect Kentaro to react to the news that his best friend- and the one he loved most in the world- was getting married?  
  
The long haired man just sighed softly and let his old classmate and co-defender in. He took a moment to wish Eri were home, but then reconsidered. As gentle and sweet as she was with him, she seemed to take perverse pleasure in keeping Kentaro and Takeshi in their places and on their toes.  
  
It wasn't something he thought the heartbroken man could handle just then.  
  
He trailed after Kentaro and remained silent as the other knelt near the fireplace. His offer of brandy or Sake was made with a gesture and declined with a simple shake of the head. He couldn't help but be partially relieved. At least his friend hadn't fallen so low that he was drowning his sorrows in alcohol. Yet.  
  
"You knew?"  
  
Sukiyabashi nodded, a bit abashed. He'd known for a while now and had wondered if Takeshi was ever going to get around to telling Kentaro. He'd even considered breaking the news himself but had decided that it was something that really should come from Takeshi. Perhaps that had been a mistake.  
  
Kentaro sighed and buried his hands in his hair. "It wouldn't be so bad if I thought he actually loved her, you know? If I thought he would actually be happy with his choice...." He trailed off gazing into the fire with a sad look. "He's so hung up on being 'normal' that he'd rather be unhappy the rest of his life with someone he doesn't love than be with me and be considered 'weird'."  
  
Remaining silent, Sukiyabashi poured his own snifter of brandy and moved to sit near his friend. He didn't deny Kentaro's words. How could he? The only person who didn't know Takeshi loved Kentaro was Takeshi himself, and Sukiyabashi wasn't even sure that ** that ** was true after all these years.  
  
"So now we all get to be miserable so he can be normal."  
  
"Kentaro-kun..... It'll get... I'm.. sorry..." What did you say to someone who'd finally had his most cherished hopes swept away like so much dust?  
  
But the other man waved his awkward words of comfort off. "Don't worry about it, Sukiyabashi-kun. I'm not going to do anything stupid. And I'll probably even go, now that he's bothered to give me an invitation." Kentaro sighed and shifted so that he was hugging his knees. "At least he didn't ask me to be best man."  
  
Takeshi had wanted to, Sukiyabashi recalled. After all, the former swordsman of Duklyon didn't have many friends and none as loyal as Kentaro. But even Takeshi wasn't so dense that he hadn't realized that it would have been twisting the knife in the wound and rubbing salt in it at the same time.  
  
The silence reigned, Sukiyabashi unsure of what to say and Kentaro too emotionally wrung out to try to keep up conversation anyways. After a while, the long haired man looked over to see that his guest had fallen asleep, still clutching at his own knees like it would protect him from his nightmares.  
  
"Do you think he'll be all right?"  
  
Turning to see that Eri had entered sometime during their introspection, Sukiyabashi stood and shrugged. Gently, he scooped up the other man and placed him on the near-by futon. His wife had fetched a blanket from somewhere and pulled it over Kentaro, tucking him in and brushing his hair back as sweetly as she would a child. Takeshi and Kentaro would not have recognized her as the terrorizing leader she'd always been to them.  
  
"Kentaro-kun has a strong heart, but I think it will be a long time before he recovers from this." If ever. The words hung between them, unsaid.  
  
Eri sighed and turned into his embrace. "Takeshi is a fool. He's throwing away true love for some stupid human social ideal."  
  
"I imagine one day he'll realize that himself, love." Of course by then it would likely be too late.  
  
The woman snorted and gazed in disdain at the picture mounted above the fireplace, their final picture as Duklyon. Even Takeshi had a faint smile of secret happiness on his face. "He's too dense. Someone should have knocked him upside the head with a hammer years ago. Then maybe he'd see what was right in front of his face."  
  
Choosing not to point out that Eri had been hitting them both upside the head for years, he sighed and held her closer.  
  
He was not a fool. He'd been willing to defy an empire to be with his true love and even though it hadn't come to that, Sukiyabashi knew that he'd have considered his relationship with Eri worth any cost. Poor Kentaro, he knew, felt the same for their normality-obsessed friend.  
  
Perhaps it was a result of being wealthy all his life, but Sukiyabashi knew that Kentaro would never ever choose money, a regular life, or anything else over Takeshi. His loyalty was unquestionable and complete.  
  
He could only pity Takeshi who was too blind to the most important things in life to care. 


End file.
